After several days of the children exploring their names in the Communication Center, we decided to add their names to the Math Center to see what they would do. During inquiry time, I found a little girl sorting the names by number of letters.

Mrs. Thall: Tell me about what you are doing.

E.R.S.: I’m counting the letters in the names and finding the number to match.

Mrs. Thall: Why do you have two piles of numbers?

E.R.S.: (Pointing to the piles) These are the numbers I know and these are the numbers I don’t know.

She persevered for the rest of the inquiry time counting and sorting…

Later, we asked E.R.S. if it was ok to share her new game with her friends at meeting time. She said it was ok and explained her game to the class. Each person got their name and had to give it to her to sort. The children were very excited to participate!